Saturday, April 27, 2013

Storytelling tradition from Kenya

I really like the
lecture by Professor Ochieng in the way he presented the folktale and
storytelling tradition from Kenya in diverse forms. He combined telling
folktales, presenting information and performing song/dance in an appropriate
way that the class could take part in various activities and learn about Kenyan
folktales from different aspects and perspectives.

He told many folktales which
originated from peasant culture. The stories evolve around daily activities of
people and also mention domesticated animals that are close to human. He told
stories by using his voice and body language, which expressed the difference of
oral tales from those told by other means. Oral stories in Kenyan community are
usually told by one person, gathering around is the audiences. They are set at
night when everything is shadowed that the tellers can convey the entire details
and messages. African folktales illustrate the community’s origin, social
foundations and reasons behind all of their beliefs, and particularly, folktales
in the oral form help audiences appreciate the whole stories better.

As knowing those
African tales by listening directly, I feel that the stories are more
imaginable and realistic. Especially, that Dr. Ochieng asked us to dance and sing
which made people closer and somehow brought the atmosphere of the setting
where the Kenyan folktales are told to the classroom.

Not only having an idea
about how the storytelling tradition in Kenya is, I also know about the significances
of stories. They all celebrate wit and quick thinking, raise the awareness of
community’s and people’s history. Besides, they are also used for explaining
some phenomenon. But on top of that, they always teach people some lessons
about morality, ritual, values, attitudes or beliefs.

Overall the
storytelling tradition in Kenya is very interesting to me that there is an
interaction between the storyteller and audiences. Folktales are not only to
convey lessons but also to connect people in the community together.